Louder than Words
by SouthSideStory
Summary: Sakura hasn't uttered a word since the day her family died, but Sasuke is determined to find a way to help her speak. Non-Uchiha massacre. SasuSaku.
1. Part 1

**Part 1**

Otousan goes on a mission alone and comes back with a girl in tow. She's wearing dirty, ragged clothes, and her pink hair looks like it was cut with a knife. She might be pretty or she might be ugly, but Sasuke can't tell because her face is so bruised. Blue and purple color her swollen left eye, her cheek, her jaw. There's a shallow cut across her throat, like someone tried to slit it. Okaasan fusses over the girl and goes to help her take a bath.

"Where did she come from?" Itachi asks.

Otousan frowns. "A little border town to the north. Sound shinobi slaughtered her parents, her whole village. The only reason she's alive is that they left her for dead."

"Is she going to live with us now?" Sasuke asks.

"It's only temporary," his father says, "just until we find a home for her."

Okaasan takes the girl to the hospital. An hour later she comes back with her injuries healed, but she's still blank-faced, inexpressive and silent. Sasuke tries to talk to her, to ask her name, but she just looks at him with empty eyes and says nothing.

* * *

On the fifth day of her stay with his family, Sasuke finds their guest sitting outside beneath the apple tree, drawing a skylark perched on a low-hanging branch. The little brown bird preens itself, and as she watches it, he sees the girl smile for the first time. She is, Sasuke decides, beautiful this way, her blush-colored hair falling around her face and green eyes bright with contentment.

He sits next to her and feels the freshly cut grass, still wet with morning dew, beneath his palms. For a long time, he doesn't say anything, wary of upsetting her. She continues to draw and allows him to watch as her pencil brings the skylark to life on the page. Curiosity finally gets the better of him, and Sasuke asks, "What's your name? If you don't wanna say it, you can write it down."

She bites her lip, tears out a fresh page from the notebook, writes for a moment, folds up the note, and hands it to Sasuke. He opens it and finds a single word, a name for this girl who has lost everything: _Sakura_.

* * *

One week turns to two, turns to three, and Sakura is still with them, and still mute. One morning, before breakfast, Sasuke stands at the kitchen door and hears Otousan and Okaasan arguing in quiet voices about how much longer Sakura can stay.

His mother says, "You know that I've always wanted a daughter, and here she is, a girl who needs a home. So why shouldn't it be us to take care of her?"

Otousan sighs. "She might not want to be anyone's daughter, Mikoto. Besides, we don't know the first thing about caring for a child who can't _talk_."

"Fine then." Sasuke can't see it, but he would bet all the ryo in his pocket that his mother is crossing her arms. "You find a home that you think will treat her better than we will, a home where Sakura will be better loved than by us, and she can go."

His father grumbles something too low for Sasuke to hear, and his mother laughs.

"Then you concede?" she asks.

"You're a shrewd woman," Otousan says. "I'll need to keep an eye on you in the future, wife."

"You can watch me as much as you like, but when I want something, I always get it," Okaasan says, and there is a smile in her voice. "I caught you, remember?"

"Vividly," Otousan says.

Sasuke hears _kissing _sounds and backs away from the door, as frightened as if he'd come across a viper's nest. Then he hurries to Sakura's room to share the good news.

* * *

They will sit side by side and pass notes back and forth that look something like this:

_Sasuke-kun, when is your birthday? _

_It's July 23rd. Why?_

_Ha, I'm older and wiser than you! _

_Older doesn't make you wiser, you stupid. _

Here she narrows her pretty green eyes and sticks out her tongue at him. But on July 23rd she wakes him up with a kiss on the cheek and gives him a present just the same.

_Sasuke-kun, what did you do at the Academy today?_

_Nothing special. Why are you always asking me that.?_

_Because I want to be a ninja._

Sasuke tells his parents, and they take Sakura to the Academy the next day. Iruka-sensei tests her raw abilities and proclaims her more than ready to begin classes. She starts out with the little ones, and between that and her inability (or refusal) to speak, the older students pick on her. At least, they try to. Most of them end up with black eyes for their trouble, and the ones Sakura doesn't lay low, Sasuke punishes during taijutsu training.

Sakura is _smart_. Better than he is at calculating numbers and understanding the ethical dilemmas that Iruka-sensei poses. She moves to the upper class within a few months—nearly unheard of for a ninja-in-training. And when the time comes, she graduates with him. Accepts her hitai-ate with the proudest smile he's ever seen on her face.

_Sasuke-kun, I'm glad you finished at the top of our class. You deserve it. _

_Thank you, Sakura._

* * *

Passing notes is all well and good, but Sakura doesn't always have pen and paper at hand when she wants to communicate something. Once they're in the field it becomes a problem, because when time is of the essence, she can't say what she means to, can't warn her teammates if she sees trouble that they missed.

Surprisingly enough, it's Naruto who comes up with a solution. "If we can use hand signs to make a jutsu, why can't we use our hands to make words?"

So the three of them meet after training every day and practice a secret language, a system of signs known only by Team 7. Sakura is quick to create the words most meaningful to her: a punch for _fight_, a tap at the hitai-ate for _shinobi_, and a hand over her heart for _love_. It takes months to develop a vocabulary large enough to say more than simple sentences. But it's worth every hour to be able to speak to Sakura while looking at her instead of a piece of paper, to meet her eyes and make her smile by signing a joke (usually at Naruto's expense).

Today she's sitting on her bed, legs crossed in the lotus position, reading a medical text she must have borrowed from the Konoha library. Sasuke takes a seat next to her and asks, _Why do you read that stuff? It's boring._

She rolls her eyes and says, _It's only boring if you can't understand it. _And then, with a smirk, _You stupid._

Sasuke reaches over and tickles her ribs, a reprisal for calling him dumb. She falls back onto her bed, writhing as he tickles her, mouth sealed shut, and signs, _Stop! I give in!_ He decides to relent—in a moment. But when he tickles her this time, she doesn't stay silent: a laugh escapes her, feminine and high-pitched, and it is the most beautiful sound Sasuke has ever heard.

Sakura covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide and white with fear. Her breathing hitches, grows too fast, and soon she's sobbing, tears spilling down the sides of her face onto the sheets. At first, Sasuke doesn't know what to do. In the three years he has known her, he has never seen Sakura cry.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't think." Sasuke wraps his arms around her, lets her sob onto his shoulder. Sakura fists the back of his shirt, holds onto him like he's an anchor in a storm until she's cried out. She wipes her red eyes, sniffs, and signs to him to get off of her. Sasuke hurries to give her space, and she sits up, says, _I'm sorry I lost it. I know it must seem silly to you, crying over a laugh._

Often Sasuke would respond by signing, but right now he wants her to hear his voice. "I don't think it's silly at all. I'm sure you have your reasons."

Wary as a wild animal, Sakura backs a little away from him. She looks out the window and says, _My mother hid me under the bed and told me not to make a sound. I didn't cry, didn't scream. Not even when they cut Okaasan open from her navel to her neck. Let her bleed out on the floor, holding her own insides in her hands. I watched her die and didn't say a word. I was always a dutiful daughter: I did as I was told and stayed silent. _

_But they found me anyway, and then I screamed. _


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

Sasuke is careful around Sakura these days. He speaks more gently, where once he would have been brusque and straight-forward. Keeps his distance, a thing that is difficult to do when he's so used to sharing space with her. He maintains this fragile restraint for a full month, until Sakura catches him in the hallway and pins him against the wall. She nearly knocks the wind out of him, and his voice is breathless when he asks, "What was that for?"

_For being an idiot_, she signs.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Sasuke says dryly.

_You're treating me like a weak little girl, but that's not what I am_, she says, her hands moving so quickly that he can barely keep up.

_I don't know what you're talking about._ He signs it, because he's sure that if he speaks she'll be able to tell he's lying.

Sakura scowls, but she looks more sad than angry now. _I'm not made of glass. You don't have to treat me like this_.

She can see through his dishonesty, no matter how he conveys it, so Sasuke tells the truth. "I don't want to hurt you again."

_You're hurting me now_, she says.

Sakura's moods are as changeable as the wind, always have been, but it stills surprises Sasuke when she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him, as gentle as she was violent a moment ago. It's the closest they've been in weeks, and he can't help but hug back. Cling to her and bury his face in her pink hair.

* * *

Sasuke usually buys something practical for Sakura's birthdays—books on medicine, new senbon or shuriken, clove oil to polish her weapons with. But when she turns fourteen he gives her a ring. It's nothing especially fancy, just a slender silver band engraved with vines, but when Sakura opens the little box she blushes and says, _Thank you_.

His parents frown at one another. Sasuke can't imagine why they're upset; Sakura seems to like the gift, so shouldn't they be happy too?

Okaasan prepares a special dinner that night, and the table is laden with all of Sakura's favorite foods. Even Itachi shows up, finally back from one of his long missions. He ruffles Sakura's cropped hair, kisses her on the forehead, and says, "Happy birthday, little sister."

Something about this makes Sasuke shift in his seat. He knows that his parents see Sakura as their daughter, and while he too considers her family, his feelings for her are not quite brotherly. Sometimes, when he looks at her, he can't help but notice the slender line of her throat, the graceful curve of her shoulders, how her hair falls just so and her eyes are bright with all the words she doesn't speak.

That night, Sasuke lies awake, staring up into the darkness, thinking about Sakura. As if he summoned her, she knocks on his door softly and comes into his room. Right away, he can tell something isn't right, but before he can ask her what's wrong, Sakura climbs onto his bed and slips beneath the covers. She lies right next to him, so close he can smell the vanilla of her shampoo, and Sasuke can't help but cradle her face, trace the apple of her cheek with his thumb. She leans into his touch, and for a moment he has the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Would she let him? Would she like it?

They stay this way for several long minutes, but then Sasuke sits up, turns on the lamp on the bedside table, and asks, "Are you okay?"

_I had a nightmare_, Sakura says. _But I feel better now. I always feel better when I'm with you._

Sasuke doesn't know how to answer that, so he just looks away, a little embarrassed.

Sakura plays with the ring he gave her and says, _This is so pretty. I love it._

_Good_, he signs. She deserves beautiful things, and he'd like to give them to her, if she'll let him.

* * *

Sakura sneaks into his room again the next night. He was awake, reading this time, but he puts his book away when she approaches him. At first he thinks she had another nightmare, but when he asks if she's all right, she says, _I'm fine. I just…_ Her hands still, frozen with some emotion kin to nervousness, before she finishes: _I just wanted to see you._

"Oh," Sasuke says.

_Do you mind? If you want me to go I can leave,_ she says, fingers moving so quickly that he can barely follow her words.

"No!" he says, a little more forcefully than he means to. _You can stay._

She nods, turns off the light, and wraps her arms around him. She's so warm and close, a sweet burden that he wants to hold forever. Sasuke runs his fingers through her hair, marveling at the softness of it. When his touch wanders to the nape of her neck, Sakura shivers a little and makes a small noise, and when he hears it, Sasuke only wants to draw more sounds from her. He slides his hand down to the small of her back, then skims the roundness of her hip. To his satisfaction, she draws a sharp breath, just barely audible.

_I wish I knew what her voice sounded like_, Sasuke thinks. He's willing to bet it would be as lovely as the rest of her.

They fall asleep tangled together, limbs entwined, and when Sasuke wakes there's dawn light peeking into his room through the gaps in the blinds. Sakura's leg is hooked over his hip, her face snuggled into the curve where his neck meets his shoulder, and he can feel her hot exhalations on his throat.

"Sakura," he whispers. "It's morning."

She pulls slightly away from him, blinks sleepy green eyes, and stretches. The movement presses her small breasts against his chest, and the sensation makes his heart beat faster. Without thinking, he wraps an arm around her waist, pulls her closer, so that she's flush against him. One moment, their mouths are only a breath apart, and the next her lips are brushing his. Tentative and gentle at first, but there's hunger beneath her shyness and his, and soon Sasuke is on top of Sakura, kissing her fiercely.

He thinks he could do this every day for the rest of his life and never grow tired of it.

* * *

After their first kiss, Sasuke and Sakura steal as much time with one another as they can. They hide in his room or hers, or sneak around the empty training grounds under the pretense of practicing taijutsu. Spring melts into summer, summer fades to fall, and as the months pass, they're careful not to get caught.

On a cool autumn day at the Tenth Training Ground, Sasuke and Sakura lie on their sides, facing one another. They've already spent a good hour kissing, entangled, and now they rest, exchanging small talk. They discuss the upcoming chunin exams, and Kakashi-sensei's nasty literary preferences, and how they're both going to be sick if Naruto drags them to Ichiraku one more time.

Then Sakura asks, _What do you think your parents would do if they found out about us?_

"I'm not sure," Sasuke says. "They wouldn't be happy, though."

_You don't think they would kick me out of the house, do you?_ She fidgets once she finishes signing, and this relays her anxiety as much as what she's just told him.

"Of course not," Sasuke says with firm certainty. "Okaasan and Otousan love you."

_And what about you? _Sakura asks. She sets her hand over her heart: _Do you love me?_

Sasuke reaches over, runs his fingers along her arm from shoulder to wrist. She trembles under his touch, pale eyes wide.

_How do you think I feel?_ he asks.

Sakura frowns. _Well, you've never said it._

He smiles, kisses her, then whispers against her mouth, "You should know better than anybody that you don't have to say something out loud for it to be true."


End file.
